Saturday, 30 October 2010

The end of an era!

Tonight, for the last time, the 83, 84 and 86s will be rolling into Bretonside Bus Station, terminating here for the final time. The 83 is one of the best established Western National routes using Bretonside since its completion in 1958. But First, like with many of their routes, are now taking 83, 84 and 86 out of the bus station, and sticking them up on the already congested, Royal Parade. True that for passengers, this is likely a good move, but the top end of Royal Parade is already very busy. The Tavilinx services also include some extra layover time there, which could potentially cause problem. Or will we see buses simply returning to Bretonside for this layover period like Torpoint services now do on many occasions? Torpoint services were taken out of Bretonside a while ago now, but many drivers do still park down in Bretonside rather than clogging up Royal Parade. But there we go, First has spoken. With this cut it brings the total daily bus services from Bretonside down 27% from 11, to 8. When new the bus station contained 25 services, so this is a 68% decrease. Many of the routes also had a higher frequency, so in total we have seen an even bigger reduction. Who can blame the bus companies though. Bretonside is by no means the nicest of places to be any more, and even though its right in the centre, Royal Parade is just that bit more convienient, especially seeing as Bretonside has no disabled access, meaning you have to walk round via the roads, rather than there being a lift in place.

The photo above shows WJ51 PZZ coming into Bretonside on the penultimate day of operation. I have also included some more happy memories from the past with photos thanks to Louis Rawlings (the photo with Volvo Citybus 38015) and the rest are thanks to Derrick Cuff.